This week, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is gathered virtually and a crucial matter on their agenda is what to do about public officials who disregard Catholic teaching on abortion while also insisting to participate fully in the Mass by receiving Holy Communion. It is crucial that the Christian faithful make their voices heard on this matter — and that is why I’m honored to be leading Wednesday’s Los Angeles rally thanking Archbishop Jose Gomez for his committed pro-life stance, and urging him to continue upholding Catholic teaching in defense of the preborn as he meets with his fellow bishops this week.
I am filled with hope because I know that when people stand together confidently and peacefully, with Christ as their center, they have great power to effect change through him. I believe with all my heart that these rallies will truly make a difference, and I ask God’s blessing upon those who join in this fight.
The event is taking place first because the lives of nearly one million children---the precious babies in the womb---are being targeted and killed every year by the evil of abortion. These innocent little ones are under attack by the culture of death, and it is up to us to defend them and to transform the culture into one that loves and protects life at every stage.
And secondly, because, along with the innocent preborn, our Christian faith is under attack as well. Many powerful leaders — including President Joe Biden — profess to be Catholic but use their power and influence to support the evil and inhumane practice of abortion violence. And this, unfortunately, is not simply an issue for politicians but for everyday Christians as well.
According to the pro-abortion Guttmacher Institute, 54 percent of women who undergo abortions are Christian. This seems impossible, for how can people claim to love and follow Christ, who died for each one of us that we might have LIFE, and to also support the killing of his most innocent children? It is devastating that our Christian Churches and leaders have not spoken out more emphatically to counter the lies of the abortion industry and to defend mothers in crisis.
So many women are being told that in order to be happy and successful they must choose between their babies and their futures, between motherhood and a career. The world calls this feminism, but how is it feminist to tell women they cannot have it all? That they must deny a part of themselves in order to fulfill their dreams? Such poison is being sold to women and families for profit, and now abortion is the No. 1 cause of death in America and the womb has become the most unsafe place on earth. If that is not a tragedy, I do not know what is.
To quote Mother Teresa of Calcutta, “Abortion is the greatest destroyer of peace. We must not be surprised when we hear of murders and wars and hatred, for if a mother can kill her own child, what is left but for us to kill one another?”
And yet many of our leaders are defending abortion all in the name of peace and equality and human rights. But what about the rights of the preborn women and men? Where is the peace and equality for them? Faced with the reality of the destruction abortion is causing to so many lives and families in our nation, SILENCE is simply NOT an option for good and Christian Americans. We must stop the lies by speaking out courageously in defense of life and truth.
Christian leaders have a moral responsibility to guide their flock to the truth and correct their errors — especially when those errors facilitate violence. And among these leaders, the USCCB, which is the most influential assembly of Catholic hierarchy in the United States, is one of the most powerful in the world. As faithful Americans and Christians, we must hold them accountable for defending the teachings of the Christian faith as well as the thousands of lives being lost every single day in the name of “choice”. And we must hold them accountable also for protecting the Holy Eucharist, Christ’s body, blood, soul and divinity and our most precious gift on earth and doing their utmost to ensure that it only to be received by those in a state of grace, who strive to faithfully follow the Commandments and teachings of Catholic doctrine.
Dozens of Bishops have asked that the USCCB not act on this crucial issue — but it is clearly more urgent than ever that the bishops fight for life. The Catholic Church is clear: supporting the murder of innocent children is simply incompatible with the faithful practice of the Catholic Faith. And when President Biden was elected, Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the USCCB, bravely and faithfully challenged him, as both a professed Catholic and a world leader, to defend the weakest and most vulnerable in our world and to oppose abortion violence. We want to thank him for standing firmly in defense of life, and we want him to know that we are praying for him to have the grace and courage to continue to act for peace and justice, as we know there is always the pressure to be silent in the face of abortion and other grave evils.
We continue to pray for our leaders to have the courage and faith to do what is right for humanity. Let us remain convicted and determined to end abortion in America in our lifetime.
Jordan Brittain is the Pacific Southwest Regional Coordinator for Students for Life of America.
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